Contentions

Barack Obama’s incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government workers who authorized or used harsh interrogation techniques during the George W. Bush presidency. Obama, who has criticized the use of torture, is being urged by some constitutional scholars and humans rights groups to investigate possible war crimes by the Bush administration.

But two Obama advisers said there’s little – if any – chance that the incoming president’s Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage.

During the campaign, Obama’s official plan to “end” the war in Iraq included this step: “Take immediate steps to confront the humanitarian disaster in Iraq, and hold accountable any perpetrators of war crimes.”

I guess we can safely assume that the President-elect has accurately surmised that there are no “perpetrators of war crimes” in the Bush administration.